One known system for tenderizing tough cuts of meat is to inject the meat with marinade. Upon such injection, the meat becomes somewhat more tender and palatable. Up to the present time, it has been possible to get top and bottom sirloin, for example, to hold about 10% of its original weight in marinade. Prior attempts to inject more than 10% by weight results in the liquid exuding from the meat, which is called “purge” in the meat industry.
According to the Hydrodyne system (noting U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,273,766; 5,328,403; 6,120,818; 6,168,814; 6,200,615; 6,206,773; 6,224,476; and 6,306,029, as well as application Ser. No. 10/005,763), meat is tenderized by subjecting the meat to an acoustive or pressure pulse or wave. A shock wave travels outwardly from the explosion site at the speed of sound, or somewhat higher in the case of high-intensity shock waves. Such shock waves or shock pulses, and even more so refraction or negative compression waves which pass through the meat after the initial shock wave in at least some of the Hydrodyne embodiments, have the effect of rupturing the myofibular or other tissues encapsulating meat fibers within the meat which cause toughness, thereby significantly improving the tenderization of the meat.
The need for tenderizing tough cuts of meat has always existed, but in recent years has become more important due to the increasing awareness among the public that normally tender cuts of meat, particularly “prime” and “choice” grades, which contain more fat, are potentially unhealthy, as consumption of large amounts of animal fat can lead to increased “bad” blood cholesterol levels and eventual heart disease.
The art is therefore in need of ways to improve the tenderization of tougher grades of meat which contain less fat than “prime” and “choice” grades, namely those cuts of meat which contain little fat, are initially tough, and which have grades which are lower than “choice”, e.g. the “select” grade.